Man in the middle: ESPN commentator Jon Champion prepares to call the USA-Azerbaijan soccer match at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on May 27, 2014. Image: Sam Laird, Mashable With any luck, the lasting sound of this summer’s World Cup won’t be the massively commercialized event’s official (and inexplicable) “song” from alleged musician Pitbull. No, a much better soundtrack to have rattling around your head for the next several months would be the measured tones of Jon Champion, ESPN‘s newest commentator, who will make his debut for the American World Cup audience this summer. The only catch? Champion hopes you don’t remember him — at least not that much. “It’s a bit like being a referee,” Champion told Mashable in a phone interview earlier this month. “In a sense, if I get noticed too much then I’m not doing my job — which is to caption the picture and not dominate the proceedings.” Champion says this approach was instilled in him when he got his broadcasting start at the BBC more than 20 years ago. He’s since commentated on soccer for a range of TV and radio programs in the United Kingdom — including ESPN’s UK version — and covered six World Cups. But this June marks his first time calling the biggest event in sports for an American audience. ESPN executives believe that Champion can endear himself to American viewers similar to how another English commentator, Ian Darke, did during the 2010 World Cup. “We were familiar with Jon from his time with ESPN UK, and we have always been impressed with his work and his knowledge of the game,” Jed Drake, an ESPN senior vice president and executive producer, told Mashable via email. “He calls a match in a very sincere, straightforward manner, and he gives you more than just play-by-play. He provides context and perspective, which is similar to Ian. We believe fans will embrace Jon during this World Cup, and he will call some big matches for us.” Champion will call nine group-stage games, as well as several more once the World Cup moves on to its elimination stage. It’s the same sport he’s been covering for years, but Champions says his new audience will require a slightly different approach. “I’m going to have to think about it a bit more, and I welcome that as a broadcaster,” Champion says. “It’s good to challenge yourself as a broadcaster.” Much of that challenge lies in the USA’s booming — but still-fledgling — interest in soccer. Many American fans possess enough passion and knowledge of the game to rival anyone across the pond, but the American audience is also rife with more casual fans who couldn’t pick legendary Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo out of a police lineup. The trick, according to Champion, will be serving both groups of American fans who will make up ESPN’s massive Stateside audience. “I’ll have to find a balance between explaining enough and not explaining too much,” he says. “It’s up to me […]
The new app Dubsmash is a hilarious tool that people can use to make funny lip-syncing videos. It’s really simple, but the fun is endless. This father and son decided that they would entertain mommy while she was at work with a little help from the app. Eric Bruce and his son, Jack, sent videos on the app to Jack’s mother, Priscilla, to entertain her at work. After a year, they compiled some of their favorites! (via TIME) These two are due for an appearance on Lip Sync Battle. Based on this, I think it’s pretty safe to say that these two are pros. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/dubsmash/
There are more than 30,000 gyms in America…but if you look around, you quickly realize that we’re not utilizing them to the fullest. According to a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, more than two in every three adults are considered overweight or obese. Roughly 80% of people who join a gym in January will terminate that membership within five months. It seems like people need motivation to exercise and get healthy more than ever. That’s where 78-year-old Shirley Webb comes in. The grandmother recently became a viral sensation when a video of her deadlifting 225 pounds was uploaded by her trainer. After watching this video, you’ll probably ask yourself, “What’s my excuse now?” Webb joined a gym two years ago when she realized that if she was on the ground, she couldn’t get up without some kind of crutch. She wanted to end that and by following the advice of her trainer, she has. (via ESPN) Webb has gone on to set records for lifting in Illinois and Missouri for her age and weight group. She also has no intentions to stop lifting. Go home and look at yourself in the mirror, get motivated, and follow in this woman’s footsteps! Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/old-lady-lift/
Kathryn Prescott stars in MTV’s new drama "Finding Carter." MTV just dropped the trailer for it new family drama, Finding Carter, a show revolves around a girl (Kathryn Prescott) who was abducted as a toddler, raised by her kidnapper, and is returned to her biological family as a teen after learning the truth. (Should this be called Finding Carter or Finding a Therapist?) The show also features Cynthia Watros (Libby from Lost) and Alexis Denisof (Wesley from Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel), who play Carter’s bio parents — and were probably cast to make some genre TV-loving casting director’s dreams come true. We approve. Finding Carter premieres July 8 at 10 p.m. ET and an extended 15-minute preview of the show will be made available on the network’s app starting June 30. Get More:MTV Shows Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/06/11/mtvs-finding-carter-trailer-features-drama-tears-and-wesley-from-buffy/
Is the CW’s The Carrie Diaries a lazy turd of a Sex in the City prequel? Is ABC’s Nashville just a country version of NBC’s Smash? Sherlock Holmes sure thinks so in this video ridiculing the fall TV lineup. In “Sherlock Can’t Solve Elementary,” the detective pins down which new shows remind him of past series. “All of these putrid new shows are thinly veiled clones of previously successful ones,” he bemoans. | 6 Fox Shows to Watch | 6 NBC Shows to Watch But one eludes him: CBS’s drama Elementary, which premieres Thursday. Watch him struggle to crack the mystery in the above video from comedy site Jest. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/09/26/sherlock-fall-tv-elementary/
Remember that terrifying feeling of being in trouble when you were a kid? That was the scariest thing of all, because letting Mom and Dad down (and getting caught) was completely awful. But when this little boy gets in trouble, he doesn’t contest it. He just freezes in fear, and it’s super adorable. Even Mom can’t help but giggle! I hope this boy doesn’t get in trouble too often, otherwise he could be frozen for a long time! That wouldn’t be good for anyone. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/frozen-fear/
Most of us use tape measures for, well, measuring. But one fun-loving construction worker has found a much more creative use for this handy extendable tool. Instead of just doing boring old stuff like measuring boards, this clever dude uses it to make the sickest trick shots ever. Hey, we’ve all gotten bored on the job…right? googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCBP_ATF’); }); So this is why my three-day remodeling job took over a month to complete. YouTube / spmconstructionmn googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCBM_BTF’); }); This is the pretty much the most useless skill I’ve ever wanted to learn. If it isn’t in the Olympics by 2024, we’ve failed as a civilization. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/tape-measure-tricks/
I’ve always been envious of people who can freely express themselves and enjoy life to the fullest. It’s not that I don’t like my life, but let’s just say you won’t see me breaking out in dance whenever the mood strikes. That’s because in addition to having absolutely no rhythm, I’m nowhere near as cool as this grandma. Every week, this girl picked up her 88-year-old Nana Feole and took her out to breakfast or lunch. As soon as she would arrive at her house, she’d blast some great oldies from her car and get treated with this awesome sight. You go, nana! She could seriously bring a smile to anyone’s face. Read More: A Group Of Dads Got Together With Their Babies To Do Something That’s Beyond Cute Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/dancing-nana/
When Irrational Games needed to create a distinctive look to promote the female lead in the video game BioShock Infinite, it looked to 3D scanning rather than traditional modeling software. The game’s leading lady, Elizabeth Comstock, is one of the most original and engaging digital characters in years, and her realistic appearance in a commercial for the game revealed how effectively the technology can convey facial features and emotions. Elizabeth’s in-game design came from a traditional combination of motion-capture for her body and 3D modeling for her face, but Irrational needed a face for Elizabeth in the promotional materials — billboards, print and online ads and even TV spots. As the game neared its release in March, Irrational knew that Elizabeth would have to grab the audience’s attention right away, and set about crafting a TV commercial for the game. Elizabeth’s expressive face and realistic features come by way of an Artec 3D scanner: a professional-grade product made by a startup company in Moscow. “Our scanners are a little different,” Anna Zevelyov, Artec 3D Scanning’s director of business development, told TechNewsDaily. “Actually, they’re a lot different!” Whereas most professional-grade 3D scanners rest on a tripod and require a person to move them around an object very slowly, Artec’s scanner is handheld and operates like a video camera. “You take it in your hand, you walk around the object, and you capture it at 16 [frames per second],” Zevelyov said. “It automatically aligns all the strains together to create a single object in 3D.” The Artec scanners’ size and rapidity make them a natural fit for capturing human subjects, Zevelyov said. “Humans can’t stand still very long,” she added. Irrational Games sought out Anna Moleva, a popular Russian cosplayer — someone who dresses up as characters from pop culture for conventions or photo shoots — to represent Elizabeth in the commercial. As a Russian scanning company, Artec was a natural fit. “This beautiful young Russian woman came by and she was posing,” Zevelyov explained. “We scanned her here and sent the scans to Los Angeles. They did all the postproduction on it; they made her come to life.” “We made her do a bunch of faces,” Zevelyov said. “Here she is angry, here she is sad, here she is laughing, here she is frowning … Once [artists] get these scans, they don’t have to imagine what she might look like, because they’ve never seen her.” Zevelyov estimates the whole scanning session took, at most, 20 minutes — a far cry from the eight-plus hours it can often take designers to create a face from scratch. Without 3D scanning, making a face for a video game character can be an arduous process, to say nothing of animating it or connecting it to a moveable body. “It takes [designers] about four hours to draw a face, and another four hours to draw the texture and color of the face, and the shape,” Zevelyov said. “Let’s say they want to digitize Brad Pitt,” she […]
Katy Perry has found an era that suits her perfectly — Victorian. The pop star went retro-chic in a visually stunning music video for power ballad “Unconditionally,” the second single from her “Prism” album. There are gowns, snow, pearls, flower petals, an owl, underwater scenes and a bed on fire — so nothing really out of the ordinary for Perry. Yes, unconditional love sometimes feels like being hit by a car… Or being on fire… How does it feel to you? — Katy Perry (@katyperry) November 20, 2013 The singer recently told MTV that this music video would be a departure from her other videos because it “doesn’t have a complete narrative.” “I usually have quite a big story line,” she said. “This time I wanted to give a lot of gorgeous, beautiful looks, which I don’t usually go for. But it’s mostly just a beautiful video that is supposed to evoke this power of love.” Mission accomplished, Katy. Image: Tumblr, iheartkatyperry Image: Tumblr, iheartkatyperry Image: Tumblr, myhouse-myrules-mypleasure Image: Tumblr, sttifler04 Perry also released a lyric video for the song in October, featuring models Janell Shirtcliff and Erika Linder. BONUS: 14 Ways Katy Perry Can Help You Take Life Less Seriously 14 Ways Katy Perry Can Teach You To Take Life a Little Less Seriously 1. Don’t stress over minor wardrobe malfunctions. Image: Tumblr katyperryphotos1 2. Dance like everyone’s watching, and like everyone thinks you’re an amazing dancer. Image: Tumblr fuck-adriannaa 3. Eat more cupcakes. Image: Tumblr musicvideogifs 4. Simplify your beauty routine and fill your new free time with funny cat videos. Image: Tumblr suckgifs 5. Invest as much time in your friendships as you do your ambitions. Image: Tumblr tigershout 6. Smile when you feel it — you never have to smile because someone tells you to. Image: Tumblr you-choose-which 7. Remember that almost any problem can be solved with a hot shower. Image: Tumblr jasmiinneee 8. If you’re embarrassed by some ridiculous thing you did, think of all the people who make a living that way. Image: Tumblr fuckyouigotohogwarts 9. Try something new, even if think you’ll fail. Image: Tumblr katycat9684 10. Don’t get hung up on other people’s expectations for your life. Image: Tumblr destinychange 11. If you’re over-thinking, draw a mustache on something that traditionally doesn’t have a mustache. It’s a tension breaker. Image: Tumblr mvgifs 12. Throw on an unusual outfit and don’t worry what others will think, concentrate on how it makes you feel. Image: Tumblr hello-katy 13. Don’t worry about how you look in every picture. Funny photos will be more entertaining to look back at than one that’s perfectly posed. Image: Tumblr romimahomie45 14. Make this face, preferably in the mirror. If the action of smiling makes you feel happier, this will make you feel like your problems will work themselves out. Image: Tumblr iheartkatyperry Read more: http://mashable.com/2013/11/20/katy-perry-unconditionally-video/
